Youth BJP leader shot outside Shankar Nagar garden

NAGPUR: Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha city vice president Hemant Diyewar was shot thrice from close quarters before being stabbed at busy Shankar Nagar chowk in full public view on Sunday evening. The masked assailants used a sophisticated 9mm pistol in the attack, leading the cops to suspect it was a contract killing.

Diyewar, now in property dealing, was also close to west Nagpur BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who voiced concern about the shocking murder in the heart of the city.

Diyewar had not been declared dead till late in the night, but sources from Government Medical College and Hospital said there was no chance of him surviving. A huge mob of BJYM and BJP supporters, friends and kin, and local residents of Subhash Nagar gathered at GMCH, where Diyewar was rushed after the assault.

Diyewar had come to Shankar Nagar bus stop in his four-wheeler. Police sources said Diyewar was called there by his friend Shailesh Thakur, who is now under the scanner. Sanjay Paradkar, another friend, was also with Diyewar.

Paradkar told cops he had gone to bring snacks for Diyewar when he heard the shots and rushed back. He spotted the masked assailants fleeing away towards the lanes of Shivaji Nagar after the attack. Another eyewitness said the assailants, who had kept their bikes nearby, attacked Diyewar from behind. The cops recovered three empty cartridges from the spot.

The motive of the murder is still not clear. The cops are working on a number of theories, including a connection to the murder of a Bihari student last year. Diyewar's name had cropped up in the case, since the assailants had come out of an eatery where the youth leader's birthday was being celebrated.

A Gittikhadan-based gang, which is known to smuggle sophisticated firearms, may have committed the murder at the behest of a builder. Diyewar had recently demanded a share in a property deal that had turned sour, leading to a prominent politician trying to settle the matter.

Diyewar was also involved in firing at a person in 2010 at Mate Chowk, leading to a case of attempt to murder and illegally keeping arms against him.

Sources in the police department also claimed Diyewar and another gang had developed rivalry over admissions to engineering colleges. Diyewar also had an old rivalry with a local goon, whom he had manhandled a year ago.

Ambazari police have registered a case but the crime branch too has been engaged in the probe.